Heaven and Hell

By: Kristen Ashley

Narrated by: Felicity Munroe

Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

After making a bad decision when she was very young, Kia Clementine finds herself in hell. Then, suddenly, within the time it takes for a shotgun to blast, her hell changes. Completely. Then, out of the blue, she sees Sampson Cooper, her celebrity crush. A man the whole world knows is decent. A man the world knows is loyal. A man the world knows is good. All of these very unlike her now dead husband. He's sitting at a table right next to hers. And she catches his eye.

Terrified of the interest Sam shows in her, Kia finds the courage to go out with him. Not long after, she shares her dark secrets, and Sam shares that he'll stop at nothing to gain her trust. As Sam leads Kia to heaven, Kia realizes that Sam is living his own hell. Although he gives her beauty and she gives him everything, he withholds his trust. Even with all the beauty Sam shows her, Kia wants it all. But Sam forces Kia to make a heartbreaking decision, and only she can decide. It's all or nothing.

©2011 Kristen Ashley (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Very good contemporary romance :D

4-4.5 stars

This was a really good story. I liked both Kia and Sam and their story was interesting kept me reading until the end.

Kia made a mistake in high school of choosing the wrong man. She got involved with and then married the high school football star that didn't make it anywhere (not even managing to graduate college) and made her suffer for a life gone wrong. Kia tried leaving him but never managed to stay away and paid dearly for every attempt. She lived in fear until the sheriff came to see her and tell her that her husband was dead, shot due to his own mis-deeds.

Sam is a very talented guy and got famous when he played college and then professional football. He loved his mom and his brother very much and did what he could to take care of them. When his brother was killed in the military, Sam left football to join the Army. He's since left the Army but is still rather famous even though he'd rather not be. Sam's dated a lot but never anyone that was real and made the cut in the end so he's still looking for his "one".

Kia's husband was cheating on her and his lover's husband was the one that killed him. Kia was rather shocked but had been a victim of her husband long enough that she was more relieved than upset about her husband's death. This feeling was reinforced when she found out about a large life insurance policy her husband had taken out on them both...her's for twice as much as his own. Soon she found out that he and his lover were planning to hire a hit man to kill her for the insurance money. Kia took a few months (around 5) to recover and find herself again and then decides to use her windfall to go to Europe. She travels to a few different locations and after she's been travelling a couple weeks she happens to go down for breakfast at her hotel and gets seated across from Samuel Cooper. Kia had always crushed on Samuel Cooper and semi-cyber stalked him so she knew who he was but didn't want to intrude and tried to ignore him and give him his privacy. That soon gets nixed as a restaurant employee with an eye for romance ends up pushing them in to sharing a table. They have a very nice breakfast together and there's an obvious spark between them. Their start is a little rough though, because Kia is unsure of Sam's intentions and after being in an abusive relationship for 7 years, she has a hard time crediting that a man like Sam would look twice at her.

Sam soon corrects Kia's erroneous assumptions but it's not easy by any means. Because of what she went through, Kia doesn't feel worthy of a guy like Sam and tries to push Sam away but Sam wont be budged, determined to get his chance to know Kia. Sam thinks there's something very special about Kia and is determined to help her through her rough time dealing with her past and then have a chance to see if they can have a future together. Sam was sweet and patient with Kia and made her feel safe, which is something she hasn't felt in a long time so it meant a lot for her. They end up spending the rest of her vaca together (a couple more weeks) and then go back to her home town in Indiana to see her friends and take care of some other stuff. As this is happening, news comes that the hit on Kia by her husband and his lover wasn't just planned but bought and paid for. Sam is all over making sure that Kia is safe and brings in people to help ( from other KA series, like the Burg). Kia gives in to Sam's need to keep her safe but there's some issues between them as things get more serious between them because Kia gives all of herself to Sam but Sam holds back. I have to give Kia credit, she didn't cut and run at the first hurdle, she stuck it out and things only came to a head when any woman would have found it hard to ignore. Things get pretty dicey for the couple and my heart was breaking for Kia and Sam during the rough points. Thankfully, Sam made the needed effort to breach the gap and make things right between them, leading to their well deserved HEA.

This was a really enjoyable read. Kia and Sam were both really good MCs and I could help but root for them from the start. Their story was well paced to keep things interesting...not a huge amount of action but the suspense kept things going when the romance wasn't. Overall I really liked it and am looking forward to the next book in the series (whenever it comes out). I'd recommend this story. Thumbs up! :D

+ note - the narrator of the audio version did a really good job, especially with all the accents. :)

Loved this Narration!!

Would you listen to Heaven and Hell again? Why?

I will listen to Heaven and Hell multiple times because I love the story and the Narrator does an excellent job of expressing Kia's feelings and making Sam sound just like what I was hoping he would.

What did you like best about this story?

The narrator did all the accents wonderfully. I love how unsure Kia always was and it comes through in the voice.

Which character – as performed by Felicity Munroe – was your favorite?

It's a close call between Kia and Sam. Kia has so much emotion, but same has the compassion to keep Kia at ease.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Kia flinches and ends up revealing to Sam he history.

Any additional comments?

I always love any book written by Kristen Ashley, so this was just as great as the rest. Felicity does the story justice and I would love to hear more from her.

Chalk full of hope, love and characters I'd want to spend time with

In the novel Heaven and Hell Kristen Ashley took a woman suffering with domestic violence and changed her life in a way only a romantic fantasy writer can. What I liked most about this novel was the way it focused the characters dealing with and overcoming loss and their struggle to have their HEA.

she did it again!

story was awesome. if you haven't read Kristen Ashley any of her books you are so missing out.

Great Story

Loved the audible. Was an enjoyable read full of emotion along with twists. Recommend this one.

Perfect

Loved it. I wish this was more of a series verse a stand alone. Love how dream world meets reality in this book.

Beautiful

This is one of the best books I have ever heard. The narrator was perfect!! The stores was amazing and funny. I even cried a couple of times. Loved loved loved the whole thing!!!!!

Excellent story - very slow naration

I love this story. It is very easily in my top two favs of all KA's books, and I love them all! The narrator, Felicity Munroe, does a fantastic job. Her voice is perfect for the character. She has great inflection and volume level. That being said, when listening on Audible Manager (which is my only choice while at work) the pace is verrrrry slow. It makes Kia sound slower than she is. It's almost unbearable. If I hadn't read it before listening, I wouldn't finish it. When I switch to listening on my phone, I can increase the speed to a much more bearable 1.5 speed and it is much better.

For those that are able to listen on the window's app that streams, you can also adjust the speed, and there would be no problem.

LOVED THIS BOOK !!!

I couldn't have loved this book more! It followed characters who had the worst happen to them and would seem to have very little positive to look forward to in life, and show how with positivity and hard work ones whole life can turn around.

Good read...... However. ...

I'd love for there to be 2 narrators for her books. the woman always playing the man sounds so corny. This books was hard to get it. to because to me it seemed like her other books. .. it was hard to tell the lead man from the lead women in her other novels. I like her books, but after 4 in a row it becomes too much. or the same thing.